


Craving Control

by starwatersong



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sex, Hypnotism, Inspired by Real Events, Loss of Control, M/M, Mind Control, Retcon Timeline, Sex, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-03-23 19:02:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13794186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starwatersong/pseuds/starwatersong
Summary: Phil is intrigued by the hypnotist at the YouTuber Summit in 2016 and finds himself oddly fascinated by hypnotism. Is Dan helping him find one for a video for Phil's benefit... or Dan's? Some timeline mixing where Phil's fortune telling video takes place in an earlier time. They're living in London apartment #1 in this story.Warning:There are some slightly blurry lines with consent in this that I’ve done my best to clarify. :)





	1. Inspiration

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my story! If you like it, please like or kudos as those keep me wanting to add more. :) -SwS

**Phil**

“I don’t believe in it,” said Dan, snorting. “And I can’t believe you do either. Although I shouldn’t be surprised after the Tarot and the Magic 8 Ball.”

“Dan, after what we watched, how can you not believe in it?” said Phil. He lowered his voice, suddenly aware of the other people on the plane around him. “Anyhow, didn’t you see how Joey acted?”

“He acted like he was in front of an audience of YouTubers filming him,” scoffed Dan, pulling out his earbuds and connecting them to his phone. “Come on, Phil, hypnotism is bullshit.” He turned suddenly, cheekily grinning at his friend. “I’d be more likely to believe in Australian banana fortune telling.” And with that, Dan put in his earbuds, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

Phil sat there, wide awake, thinking over what Dan said. He was used to his roommate’s skepticism, and usually it didn’t bother him. But this time he found himself reliving that afternoon’s events over in his head. He had asked Joey about his experience and Joey had sworn it was completely genuine. Phil hadn’t volunteered. And, of course, neither had Dan. The fear of the unknown, of forced audience participation, had left them both as watchers, rather than participants. But five days later and Phil still had it on his mind. Something about it had struck a chord with him.

He looked over at Dan sleeping peacefully already and fought the urge to brush a barely-there curl out of his face. Their rush for the airport had left them both sweaty and Dan’s “hobbit hair” had started to appear. Phil smiled softly. It was his favourite Dan hair. Phil leaned back, glancing once more at Dan and then closed his own eyes, picturing the event.

“Any volunteers?” the hypnotist had asked. Phil imagined himself raising his hand. No… he imagined _Dan_ raising his hand. Phil’s lips curved ever so slightly into a smile and he put his earbuds on.

***

**Dan**

_Okay, less Guild Wars 2, more bathroom breaks,_ thought Dan. He yawned and said his brief goodbyes to his guildmates, heading down the hall to the bathroom. He was surprised to see the lights still on in the living room. Although they were both night owls, it was normally only Dan that was up this ridiculously late. _It’s early, really,_ he thought, yawning. _Almost four._ Dan figured he would check in on him after he went to the bathroom. It was possible that Phil, just like him, had lost track of time. Since they had a meeting tomorrow at 1, both of them should probably get some sleep. And a tired Phil was often a grumpy Phil.

Returning from the bathroom, Dan looked through the doorway of the living room and noticed Phil sitting there on his laptop, completely engrossed by the screen and cuddled under the throw on the couch. _Must be watching some sloth video. Or editing the next Sims_ , _bless him,_ he thought, smiling. The cold glow from the screen lit up Phil’s already bright blue-green eyes and Dan smiled.

“Phil,” Dan said softly, not wanting to scare his flatmate. He then noticed the earbuds in Phil’s ears. “Phil,” he called louder. Phil’s eyes widened as he saw Dan standing in front of him, and immediately he pulled out the earbuds.

“D-dan,” he gasped. “You scared me.” His face reddened in an unmistakable blush. He adjusted his laptop awkwardly.

“Sorry, Phil,” said Dan. “You okay? It’s almost four.”

“Four?” said Phil, looking surprised. “Shit, we’ve got that meeting tomorrow…” He closed his stickered laptop lid quickly, getting to his feet. He lurched forward, tripping on his blanket, his hips turned at an strange angle. He stumbled and fell forward. Dan moved quickly, barely catching Phil before he fell into the table.

Dan pulled him upward then froze, feeling Phil’s warm form skim up his body as he held him in his arms. Sure, they sometimes hugged, but that was different. This felt… intimate. The dim light, late night, and the masculine scent of Phil combined with his soft skin had all conspired to give Dan pause. Not only that, but Dan realized quickly why Phil had been moving so awkwardly. He felt the hardness of Phil’s cock pressed against his thigh. Both of them stood there for a moment until Phil pulled away and stood up independently with a strangled laugh.

“You know me, clumsy Phil,” he said. “Thanks… mate. I guess I’d better head to my bed. And you should, too,” Phil continued, babbling. “That is to say, your bed, not mine. See you tomorrow. Night.” He almost ran down the hallway as Dan still stood there, his mouth partially open.

Dan looked around at the room, shaken. He ran his fingers through his hair and noticed that Phil’s laptop had fell to its side during the tumult. It had landed on the fallen blanket, thankfully, but it was partially open. He walked forward and picked it up. He held it for a second, biting his lip. A moral quandary. Dan shrugged as the temptation overcame him. After all, Phil had said Dan could use his laptop any time.

 _Face it, Dannyboy. He probably didn’t mean to see what kind of porn he liked. That seems out of a best friend’s purview._ Dan opened the laptop, then blinked in surprise. There was no sound, as Phil’s earbuds were still plugged in, but he could see a fully clothed man on the screen dancing stiltedly. An audience was clapping and the title said “Man Hypnotized to Dance.” Two or three tabs were also open. Dan clicked through them, fascinated, with one eye on the doorway. Other hypnosis videos. All featuring men doing strange acts, seemingly controlled by a hypnotist. The last tab had some names of London hypnotists on it. Dan sat down on the couch, confused.

 _Ideas for a video, maybe? But then why didn’t he mention it?_ Dan flashed back to him laughing on the plane. He could guess perfectly well why Phil might not have told him about this particular interest. _Am I a good friend or not a good friend?_ asked Dan to himself. Phil had helped him with all sorts of ridiculous video ideas. He closed the laptop, setting it back on the couch. He flicked off the light and headed to bed, finally.

Sleep didn’t come quickly, however, as Dan lay in the darkness. If he had to be honest with himself, being a good friend wasn’t the only reason he’d end up helping Phil with this endeavor. He flushed as he thought back to Phil’s hardness. Whatever about hypnotism had caused Phil to react so strongly… well, Dan had to know more.

 


	2. Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan does some research looking for hypnotists for Phil that ends up a little hands on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left kudos or commented! Hope you enjoy and keep it up -- you keep me motivated! -SwS

**Phil**

Phil hurried to open the door as they reached home. The taxi ride had been filled with awkward pauses between stopped and started conversations about irrelevant small talk and chit chat about the meeting. Normally, his conversations with Dan were effortless and playful. Today, the only conversations they had were stilted and polite, like two virtual strangers forced to share a taxi. As Phil clumsily unlocked the door, he sighed in relief. Sure, they were in close quarters, but Phil could go to his room and shut the door. He could escape the memories of last night, and the unspoken words that lay between them. Phil started up the stairs with his flatmate not far behind. He could hear Dan intake air -- as if to say something? But Dan stayed silent, releasing a barely audible sigh that sounded very loud in the silent staircase.

Once they entered their flat, Phil headed straight for the kitchen, starving. He pulled a box of cereal out of the cupboard, making extra sure it was his and not Dan’s and set out a bowl.

“Phil,” said Dan, hesitantly. Phil inwardly groaned. He had almost hoped that Dan would just crack a few jokes and be done with the whole thing. The soft tones from the brunette indicated a much more serious conversation. Phil ignored him and poured the cereal. “Phil,” repeated Dan, this time more insistently. Phil continued to pour.

“Phil, just leave the fucking cereal for a second… I’m trying to talk to you,” said Dan, laying his hand on Phil’s shoulder. Phil flinched and Dan pulled his hand away like he had touched a hot stove.

“What?” said Phil, turning around. “We missed breakfast due to sleeping in. I’m hungry. And… let’s just… leave it, Dan.” Phil prayed Dan would take the hint. They had been through worse; this didn’t need to be an issue.

“Leave what?” said Dan, closing the space between them. His eyes followed Phil’s every move.

“Fine,” said Phil. He felt cornered with his exit blocked. He blushed as he prepared to recite his story. The one he had worked on before fitfully sleeping. “Last night. I was watching some… some sexy stuff. Some…” He worked to get the words out. “Some p-porn. And I shouldn’t have done in it the lounge. I’ll make sure I’m in my own room next time. With the door closed. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s all?” said Dan, quietly, his brown eyes fixed on the flush in Phil’s cheeks.

“Yes,” said Phil softly. He gasped as Dan suddenly closed the gap between them, inches away from Phil. He could smell Dan’s shower gel and feel the warmth of his body. Dan deliberately reached slowly up and grabbed a bowl, brushing against Phil’s arm. Phil was frozen, unable to move or look away.

“Do you mind?” said Dan with a lazy smile, gesturing to the cereal. “I missed lunch, too.”  


**Dan**

Dan perused the list of names on the website, copying some of them into a document. Some were obviously sketchy as hell. Others looked like cheesy party entertainment, similar to what had happened at the Creator Summit, but clearly worse. Their adverts featured creepy older men with twirling moustaches who dangled pocket watches while aged assistants in the background wore spangles to highlight cleavage that had seen better days.

Dan set himself into research mode and finally narrowed his list down to two hypnotists. Both had good reviews, but for completely different reasons. The first was a reputable company and entertainer from a good section of town. Their professional business page highlighted the events they had appeared at and had several mildly entertaining videos. Dan knew there would be no problem getting them to agree to be on Phil's channel. They would definitely appreciate the free advertisement and probably wouldn't even charge. _Hmm… an actual video could come out of this,_ mused Dan. That wasn’t the goal of this, but it could be a bonus.

The other was located in a rougher part of London. It had a variety of reviews, many poorly spelled, but all giving effusive praise. Their website was a mess, disorganized and not well made. They too had some videos available to watch. Several of those videos were labeled “adults only.” Dan glanced at his phone and then at the closed door. No matter what was on this, he had probably seen worse on Reddit and Tumblr. He hesitated, but turned out the light, put on his headphones and clicked play.

_A smoky dark room. A woman appeared on the stage, relatively young and professionally dressed. The sparse crowd of maybe 15 or 20 people applauded and she introduced herself. "_ _My name is Anne,” she said smoothly. “And I am a hypnotist.”_

Dan started in surprise. He hadn’t expected a woman, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. Most of the other hypnotists had been older men, but there was no reason a woman couldn’t be one. Anne was, in almost every way, average, except for her extraordinary hazel eyes. As she turned one way and another to face the audience they appeared to shift from green to brown.

 _“Quick warning, but an important one, to those watching,” her eyes met the camera directly. “If you are vulnerable to being hypnotized, especially if you are a believer, you may want to make sure you had a friend ready to bring you out, just in case,” her lips curled ever so slightly upward. “Perhaps a_ **_very_ ** _good friend. If not, no worries. I will set it to only last an hour. But watch at your own risk. Now on with the show!"_

Dan rolled his eyes ever so slightly. If it was only true believers, Dan, a natural cynic, should be safe. Besides, who ever heard of someone being hypnotized by a video? But just in case, he settled in on his butt chair, noting the video length of twenty minutes.

_“We will begin in five, four, three, two, one.“ And with that, throbbing music began with a rhythmic, insistent beat. Lights started flashing in patterns and the woman continued talking, her soothing voice fitting around the music._

Dan focused on her voice, straining to hear what she was saying… and that was the last thing he remembered.

He fuzzily found himself coming to, his jeans and underwear slid partway down his thighs. His reddened sizeable cock was as hard as it had ever been and it was in his hand, his right hand, not even his left. He stopped midstroke, surprised and confused as his slick member softened in front of him.

He could faintly recall something happening, but it felt like almost a dirty teenage dream. He couldn’t get any clear details, just a feeling of longing and unfulfillment. He took his hand off his dick. He was tempted to finish, but this was too strange, too weird of a situation.

 _What the fuck,_ thought Dan. _What in the_ actual fuck _happened?_ As his panicked eyes looked around the room, he noticed three key things.

Written on a piece of paper in front of him was a name and phone number. He had also received a text from one Philip Lester.

And finally… his door was open.


	3. Interrupted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did Dan do while under hypnosis? Only Phil knows the answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments! I hope to continue to add to this. Let me know what you like (or don't like) or what you're hoping to see! -SwS

**Phil**

Phil shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Things had relaxed a little since his and Dan’s conversation in the kitchen, but he still felt awkward. It was too complicated to explain to Dan what videos he had really been watching, saying “porn” was really just a simplification. _I mean, I was reacting like it was porn. Was it really lying?_ Phil was forced to lie sometimes to protect Dan and his privacy and it always made him feel a bit uncomfortable. The one person he never wanted to lie to was Dan. He had told him porn because he had also hoped that the more explicit language would scare off his flatmate from questioning more.

Phil brushed his fringe sideways nervously. _I should have known better_ , he thought. _Something like that was guaranteed to get me more questions later. Or_ at least _teasing. Dan loves it when I’m inappropriate._ But there had been… nothing. No reaction, no continuing of the conversation. In fact, Dan had seemed friendly, but distracted. As though his mind was somewhere else. They had eaten their cereal watching an anime silently. After that, there was some final editing of a gaming video they had to do together so they could post it. Even then, Dan seemed unfocused. Where he would normally argue about cuts or effects, he didn’t, shrugging or agreeing with Phil. They posted it about eight pm and half an hour later, Phil started replying to some of the comments on Twitter. Phil was glad they had recorded the video a few days ago. Their fans, so quick to notice every glance and touch, would surely notice the awkward silences and strangeness going on right now.

After, they had reheated some leftover pizza. Immediately following, Dan had excused himself to go to his room early.

“Guild Wars?” Phil had asked politely, trying to fill the gap in conversation.

“What?” Dan had asked confused. “Oh, right. Probably. Or Tumblr or something.”

“I can finish up here,” said Phil, gesturing to the comment section of the video. But Dan was already walking away murmuring a thanks. Phil frowned. He didn’t know if he could take much more of this. He was tempting to check out a few more of the videos he had looked at yesterday, but he would save them for later tonight in his room. That was one promise he could keep.

Phil got up, grabbing a much-loved box set, and put in the first DVD. He needed something familiar. Something comforting. He needed some Buffy.

About a half an hour in, he could hear the creak of Dan’s door opening. Phil, engrossed in the episode, didn’t look up until he sensed a presence in the hallway.

Dan was standing there in the doorway, jeans pulled down and hands at his side. His cock stood out, pale against the pulled down dark ripped jeans and underwear, and it was approaching full hardness.

Phil gasped, unable to speak or grasp any part of the situation. His first thought was this was a joke about the night before. A wildly inappropriate shocking joke.

“What the fuck, Dan?!” he said, his voice almost squeaking. But Dan didn’t reply. Didn’t laugh or cover himself. Didn’t even meet his eyes. Phil turned bright red. He couldn’t look away. Dan’s shirt had a couple of buttons undone, revealing part of his pale smooth skin. His collarbone was delineated in the soft light and his face looked flushed. His pale thighs seemed to highlight the throbbing hardness in front of him. He looked beautiful. Phil found himself instantly becoming hard and longed to leap up and grab Dan, pulling him into his arms.

But he didn’t move.

It was strange; Dan’s beautiful brown eyes looked almost glazed. Phil had seen people’s eyes like that before at parties, but usually as a result of some sort of drug. Had Dan taken something? Either way, Phil couldn’t deal with this right now.

“Get out of here! Do whatever this... thing is in your room,” said Phil, almost choking on the words. He forced himself to look away, to turn his head back to Buffy. He heard some shuffling footsteps and Dan was gone. Phil breathed unsteadily, shaking his head. Had that really happened? Was it a dream?

After another ten minutes, Phil had made a decision. He texted Dan quickly, turned off the television, and headed to his room. He was still shockingly, achingly hard and he knew what he’d be doing when he got there. He knew he’d be touching himself, and, apologies to young Phil, but he wouldn’t be thinking about Buffy when he was doing it.


	4. The Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the kudos, everyone! Your comments mean a lot to me! Hope you enjoy. SwS

**Dan**

Dan took a deep breath, trying to calm his jangling nerves. He flipped over his iPhone on top of the paper, not reading the message or looking at the number. _Right,_ he thought. _One thing at a time. Get ready for bed. Move, Dan. The door is still open and your dick is still out._ He shuffled quickly out of his chair half-pulling up his trousers and shut the door as quietly as he could. The hallway outside was dark, Phil’s door was pulled shut, and Dan couldn’t hear any sounds of movement. _Maybe I got lucky. Maybe Phil just went to bed early._ Dan snorted audibly. _Knowing me, not likely._

He pulled off his jeans and underwear completely and quickly pulled on a pair of pyjama pants. He was still breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating. His mobile sat there like a land mine he wasn’t sure was live. _Number first,_ he decided. He slid the phone off the paper and looked. There, in his almost illegible writing, was a business name and a phone number. The paper said “Hypnerotic” and the phone number matched the website he had seen early. _Did I get fucking hypnotized as a commercial?_ thought Dan, incredulously. _Did this fucking video wreck my friendship with Phil and hurt my mental health to make a sale on some shittily-named website?_

It was time. It was time to read Phil’s message. Dan took a deep breath and flipped over his phone. He read his last messages above and then let his eyes slowly flick down to Phil’s.

Dan (12:18 pm): taxis here

Dan (12:18 pm): stop straightening your hair and come down

Dan (12:19 pm): dont forget to unplug it this time

Phil (9:43 pm): Dan, I don’t know what the hell that was. Leave me alone. I need time to think. 

Dan closed his eyes, his last fleeting hope extinguished. What had he done to Phil? With Phil? Something to anger him, either way. Something to make the person he thought most of in the world want to shut him out. No emoji? This cold text meant that Phil must have been very angry indeed. _At least he didn’t leave._

 _I need to find out what that video did,_ thought Dan. He reached towards the laptop to press play again, but quickly pulled his hand back. _What if I do it again? This time, Phil might believe me. He might forgive me this once. We’ve both screwed up before. But if it happens again…_ Dan reached once again for his laptop and backed out of the video screen. He decided that finding out more information about the company and, what was her name? Anne? That was the best thing he could do for now, since there was no way he could fall asleep with this hanging over him.

Dan longed to go knock on Phil’s door or reply back to his message. He swallowed and closed his eyes, thoughtfully. He had to respect Phil's wishes, even if it meant he had to suffer.

And he did.

 

**Phil**

Phil woke up with a confused look on his face. Something was wrong. It almost felt like when he used to wake up before a particularly hard exam or with an incomplete essay due. Or the first day of their radio show. His and Dan’s radio show.

Dan.

_Dan._

Last night.

Phil eyes opened suddenly and fully and he reached out, scrambling for his glasses. _Dan. Dan in the living room. Dan’s dick. Dan’s glazed eyes._ Glasses now on, he pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at his phone. No texts from Dan, but he could see the little R showing his message had been read. Phil liked to turn his read receipts off so that nobody had hurt feelings if he didn’t reply right away. When he spoke of it to Dan, Dan said he felt quite the opposite.

“I _want_ people to know I read it and haven’t replied,” he had said with a grin. Phil had laughed at the time. It didn’t seem so funny now.

 _He’s doing what you asked, so stop with your hurt feelings, Phil,_ he told himself. _You said for him to leave you alone. He did._ Phil checked the time. 10:43. He wasn’t even sure what time he had gotten to sleep, but it had definitely been past five. Phil usually tried to go to bed by around two, but there was no way that was happening last night.

Last night, he had made a decision to listen to Dan carefully and try to keep an open mind. He knew it would be difficult. He wasn’t sure whether Dan’s actions were accidental or intentional to wind him up, but he would put aside his feelings and give Dan the courtesy of listening. If Dan had taken something and needed medical help, Phil would be there.

He and Dan had been friends for long enough that Phil owed him that, at least.

If Dan was interested in Phil, well… Phil would need more time to think through that. If this was Dan’s way of letting Phil know, well, there was something a little terrifying about that. It seemed unlike even Dan to be so clumsy with another person’s feelings.

But if Dan’s actions had been purely a way to make fun of Phil from the other night...

 _I’d need to reevaluate everything,_ he thought. _I wouldn’t think Dan would have it in him to be so cruel. Could I keep living with someone like that?_

He could hear some faint movement outside. Could Dan be up already? After a minute, Phil realized he could smell something familiar. _Pancakes_. He thought. _Does he think that will fix everything?_ Either way, Phil couldn’t stay in this room forever.

Time to face Dan.

Hopefully their friendship would survive it.


	5. Intrigued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Let me know by posting comments or kudos -- they help me out a lot! Thanks! SwS

**Dan**

“Shit,” muttered Dan, as he flipped one of the pancakes. It was a little overdone. He awkwardly used his wrist to brush a sweaty curl out of his face as he clutched the spatula. _Just some ‘sorry if you saw my penis’ pancakes,_ he thought, wryly. Just another day in the Dan and Phil house. He pulled the last pancake off the pan and looked at the two plates. Should he wake up Phil? Or just heat these up later?

But the decision became moot as Dan heard the faint sound of a door opening and shutting in the hallway. He froze. _Calm your tits, Dan,_ he told himself. _It’s Phil. Your roommate. Your best friend. Phil. And who knows? Maybe nothing happened. Maybe you’re overreacting._

The glass door behind him opened and, as Dan turned, he realized something very quickly.

He wasn’t overreacting.

Phil stood there in his pyjamas, and he looked… upset. Dan had only seen Phil truly angry a few times in their relationship. He had seen him anxious a lot more. And Phil looked like both of those feelings were warring within himself. His face was flushed behind his glasses and he averted his eyes.

“Hey,” said Dan, tentatively.

“Good morning,” said Phil quietly. They just stood there in silence for a few seconds. Phil reached for the cereal and Dan coughed awkwardly.

“I made us… some pancakes,” he said, unnecessarily gesturing to the two plates. “If you want… but you don’t have to…” Dan was horrified. He wanted to speak to Phil, but he found the words garbled in his throat. It was a feeling he had never really experienced and he hoped it would never happen again.

Phil just silently paused and then took a plate. He grabbed the container of syrup and headed into the lounge.

“Phil…” said Dan, wincing.

“Let me eat something first. Is there coffee?” asked Phil. Dan sighed. They both ate their breakfast in silence. Normally they watched something, but both of them ate their pancakes while staring at their phones. Dan couldn’t speak for Phil, but after he finished, he couldn’t remember anything he had looked at. He stalled by standing up and taking his and Phil’s plates to the kitchen, something he didn’t do normally. He sighed and headed back into the lounge. This was going to be awkward.

“First of all,” started Phil. “Do you need help? Were you on something last night?”

“On something?” asked Dan, confused. “What do you… Phil, do you think I was on drugs?”

“It’s not out of the question,” said Phil, defensively. “What you did was really fucked up, Dan.” Phil did swear. Dan had heard him do it lots of times. When he hurt himself, which was a lot of the times, or when he was playing video games. It was usually something casual that slipped out. This seemed different.

“Phil, this is going to sound really stupid,” said Dan. He cringed internally. “But what exactly did I do?” Phil looked shocked.

“Dan, I don’t want… you should know…” said Phil, flustered. “Shouldn’t you know? Were you on something? Because we could get you help.”

“Phil, please,” said Dan. “Can you just tell me? I know it makes no sense. But I need to know.” Phil glared at him through his glasses. He turned a bright red colour.

“Fine,” he spit out. “But after that, you explain.” He pulled a watercolour sofa cushion over to hug and started explaining exactly what happened.

 

**Phil**

“Then I texted you and went to bed,” finished Phil, looking at the wall. He could feel the heat on his face. He was glad he had grabbed the cushion because he could also feel a faint stirring of interest in his pelvic region. Dan’s face was in his hand and he looked mortified.

 _What exactly did he take?_ wondered Phil. _How bad could it be if he couldn’t just tell his best friend?_

“Now spill,” he said, looking at Dan. “It’s your turn. What the fuck happened?”

“Ituz davido,” mumbled Dan into his hands.

“What?”

“The video!” exclaimed Dan, looking up. His red was bright red and he laughed in a high pitched tone. “The motherfucking shitty fucking shit video! I watched a… hypnotism video!”

Phil stared at him. This was worse than he thought.

“I don’t think this is funny at all,” said Phil, slowly and deliberately. “Was it worth all this effort just to wind me up?”

“Phil, I’m not fucking winding you up… seriously, as your best friend, I promise you I’m not lying. As your best friend,” said Dan, earnestly. “Do you really think I’d just whip out my dick casually in our lounge? Let me show you the video. And the site. Give me a chance. Please, Phil.”

Phil looked at him. Dan seemed so sincere. Was it worth throwing away years of friendship? And… what if? Phil nodded his head. Dan grabbed his laptop and sat on the sofa next to Phil. He walked him through the website, which looked cheaply made.

“This is a pretty terrible website,” said Phil.

“That’s literally what I thought!” said Dan. “Then I played this video.” He hesitated with his mouse over it. “I don’t know if I should…” He looked worried. Seriously worried.

“I don’t know if I should, Phil,” said Dan. “I don’t want you to hate me even more.”

“Dan, I don’t hate you,” said Phil, reaching over and pressing play on the video. “Will I die in seven days if we watch this?”  Dan, completely tense, ignored his voice. Phil knew he had to see what was on this video that had Dan so scared.

_A smoky dark room. A woman appeared on the stage, relatively young and professionally dressed. The sparse crowd of maybe 15 or 20 people applauded and she introduced herself._

_“ My name is Anne,” she said smoothly. “And I am a hypnotist.”_

Phil listened to the rest of her speech and then looked amazed at the swirling colours and rhythmic beat that filled the room. Her low soothing voice continued.

“ _I believe in consent. No one under this hypnotism will do anything they have unwilling to do. But feel yourself become free to embrace your desires. In an hour, you will wake up feeling refreshed. If forced to do something you don’t consent to, you will awake immediately or when a friend snaps his or her fingers.”_

“This is pretty cheesy,” said Phil. “Dan?” Dan was staring at the video. “Dan?” He realized that Dan wasn’t moving. “Dan, look at me.” Dan’s face robotically faced Phil. “Are you just messing with me?” The voice in the video continued.

 _“You are wearing too much clothing and your legs are very hot. Make yourself comfor-”_ Phil quickly muted the video. Dan was starting to shift, a faint look of discomfort in his glazed eyes. He move his legs, pulling on his tight jeans. He yanked them downward and Phil became alarmed.

“Dan, stop it,” said Phil. Dan immediately stopped. Phil rolled his eyes. “Dan, cut it out.” Dan sat there, unmoving. Phil was intrigued… but scared. Was Dan just fooling him? Or could it be true?

“Dab,” said Phil and watched with wide eyes as Dan moved his arms into the “dance” move. “Keep dabbing.” Dan switched his arms back and forth. Phil was increasingly convinced as Dan currently would never be caught dead doing this, even for fun.

What could he choose that Dan wouldn’t do? Phil needed to test this. A dozen exciting things ran through his head. He felt his dick swell. He reminded himself that this was his friend. His flatmate. Phil winced as an idea came to him.

“Hit me, Dan.” Dan froze in place and stopped dancing. “Punch me.” Phil closed his eyes, waiting for the punch to land. He hoped what he knew about his and Dan’s friendship proved to be correct. But nothing happened. He opened one eye. Dan stood there, eyes still blank, but with a concerned look on his face. “Don’t punch me, Dan. It’s okay,” said Phil, relieved. What else could he have him do?

“Dance,” said Phil. Dan stood up and started to move his hips, pale flesh revealed from his previous efforts. Phil was shocked. Was the sexy endscreen dance Dan’s default dance? So much for rebranding. Phil felt his face flush again as Dan started to move more smoothly, thrusting his hips. His jeans were lowered from before, showing the top of his underwear and a strip of pale skin.

“St-stop, Dan.” Dan froze in place like a doll, unmoving. _Anything?_ thought Phil. _Anything at all?_ He suddenly panicked and snapped his fingers. He watched as Dan’s eyes slowly gained expression.

“Phil… what happened? Did I...? Did we both get hypnotized?”

“I believe you, Dan.” whispered Phil. He kept the pillow firmly on his lap. He told Dan what had happened.

“I fucking _dabbed?”_ said Dan, horrified.

“I love how this is a bigger deal than you taking your penis out,” Phil said, shaking his head. Dan blushed again.

“Not a bigger deal, but if what you said is true, then apparently I consented to all of it,” said Dan. “And why doesn’t it work on you? Why just me?”

“I have no clue,” said Phil. “I wish I could try it. It was really cool, but I didn’t want to do anything… without your permission. It felt wrong. We won’t do it again.”

“Phil,” whispered Dan, looking at his flatmate. “Can I tell you something? I really liked it.”

“You _liked_ it?” asked Phil, incredulously.

“It felt… good. Freeing. Even for ten minutes,” said Dan. “And I felt… safe. With you here. I never thought I’d like something where I lost control so much. Do you think we could do it again?”

“Would you trust me that much?” Phil said, looking into Dan’s eyes.

“Literally no one else,” said Dan, meeting Phil’s gaze.

“Let’s set some ground rules,” said Phil, finally looking away.

“From what you told me,” said Dan, “I won’t do anything I don’t want to do. I won’t put restrictions on it. If I really don’t want to do it, I won’t. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“When?” interrupted Phil.

“Tonight,” said Dan. “We both need a shower and to get some work done.” Neither of them mentioned it again,  but Phil knew he, at least, would be counting the hours until tonight.

And he was pretty sure Dan felt the same way.


	6. The Past

**Dan**

 

Dan felt like he had typed the same sentence four different times, erasing it each time. He shook his head, looking at the rough script. Looks like this sentence wasn’t going to be any better. He deleted it and sighed. He could feel Phil’s presence like a magnet. He hadn’t felt like this around Phil since his 2009 days.

Dan shook his head. 2009 fanboy Dan had been so dazzled by his icon that he was barely able to string more than two words together for their first few months of conversation. He was lucky that AmazingPhil turned out to be such a patient friend. Dan was so eager to impress him, desperate to be one of the YouTubers he admired so much. Plus he honestly liked Phil. There was something about him that clicked with Dan. A connection Dan had never felt before. And Dan went from admiring Phil to daydreaming about him. His eyes. His hair.

But other than a few tentative kisses and a hell of a lot of flirting on Skype, it hadn’t really gone anywhere yet. He was scared and hesitant, and Phil wasn’t one to push.

_ Except that one night,  _ Dan reminded himself. As if he needed reminding. There had been drinking, laughter, cherry lube, and some awkward hand jobs. But it didn’t go anywhere from there. Dan made sure of it. After Phil sent him a video on Valentine’s Day, the most thoughtful video Dan had ever seen, Dan had responded on the video without thinking… and then panicked.

Young Dan was still so unsure of himself. Still coping with his failures at university, not ready to make any other big decisions. Not willing to take the risk and ruin their friendship as he was so uncertain if it was really Phil he wanted, or Phil’s life.

When Phil spoke romantically later, Dan brought up how much alcohol they had drank. And how lots of guys experimented. He had laughed about that night. And he had taken any opportunity in front of Phil to make fun of their shipping fans, or profess his interest in women. Phil seemed confused and hurt, but he followed Dan’s lead.

Dan had counted on it.

When they finally became friends,  _ real friends _ , AmazingPhil had become… well, just his dorky best friend Phil. Dan was embarrassed by his previous “notice me Senpai!” actions, especially around his new fan base. It didn’t seem to suit his new YouTuber lifestyle. It wasn’t the  _ brand _ he was hoping to cultivate. 

Dan had meant to talk to Phil about it. And it even looked like at some point Phil was going to talk to Dan about it, but it never happened. Because something else had happened first.

The YouTube glitch. Suddenly Phil’s very private video had became public.

_ I was such an asshole about it,  _ thought Dan, remembering.  _ He had done nothing wrong. Something really sweet, really. And I blamed him for all the bullshit that followed. And I think he blamed himself, too. Certainly he did what he could, chasing all of the videos that popped up after copywriting his name. But I pushed him away. _

And the feeble flame had blown out for good.

Dan knew that it was his fault.

And they had become roommates. Best friends. And, if Dan had to trust someone, trust someone absolutely, then it was Phil.

He hadn’t been lying earlier. The hypnosis had been the most freeing thing he had ever felt in his life. Dan, prone to overthinking every last thing, found his mind suddenly unfettered. Free. And afterwards, he had felt amazingly relaxed.

_ At least, until you panicked. At least this time, you’ll know where you are.  _ Finally, and Dan was forced to admit this to himself, it had been one of the most sexual thing he had ever felt before. Giving yourself to someone fully like this. Letting them take charge.  _ I wonder if this is how subs feel _ , thought Dan, inconsequentially. 

As if he knew the trail Dan’s thoughts had taken, Phil cleared his throat awkwardly from across the room. 

“Are you sure about the no rules thing?” he asked quietly, his voice still echoing in the formerly silent room. “What if I make you do something you’d feel uncomfortable about?” Dan didn’t even pretend to not know what Phil was talking about. It was clear Phil had the same thoughts as Dan right now.

“You won’t,” said Dan. “You couldn’t.”

“You don’t know everything about me, Dan,” said Phil suddenly, sitting up and putting his laptop down. His blue eyes met Dan’s and Dan looked away first, a little shaken by Phil’s change in tone. “What if I made you do something you don’t want?”

“You can’t,” said Dan. “The woman said…”

“What, the random hypnotist in the shitty-looking video? We trust her now?” said Phil. Dan was surprised at both Phil’s language and tone.

“If you don’t want to, Phil…” said Dan, a little disappointed. He wasn’t going to force Phil.

“You don’t get it,” said Phil, flushing a bright red colour. “I really want to. I want to a lot. But I don’t want this to screw up our friendship. I could just have you… I don’t know. Clean the gaming room or something instead.”

“Instead of what?” whispered Dan, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Both times… you tried to take off your clothes,” said Phil, stumbling over the words. “If you don’t want… we shouldn’t...”

“I _do_ consent, though,” said Dan, interrupting. “Not only that, but let’s film it. And I mean it when I say I consent, Phil,” said Dan. “I said I trust you and I do. This is something I want to explore, and I hope you do, too.”

Phil slowly nodded.

“Film it?” he questioned. “Not for our channels…”

“No,” said Dan. “I just want to see it. And you can do pretty much anything, Phil. I really mean it. I want to push my boundaries and you won’t be doing me any favours if you hold back.”

Phil gulped then smiled, tentatively. 

“But one thing,” said Dan with a quick smile. “You could never get me to clean the game room. It has to be consensual and at least half that mess of cords is yours!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments and I'll keep writing. :D (or XD, in honour of 2009!Dan) -SwS


	7. Reluctance

**Dan**

“What the fuck is this, Phil?” Dan entered the lounge, redfaced and angry. He was holding Phil’s phone. Phil looked tense, his laptop open before him.

“You said to film…” said Phil, looking away.

Dan hooked it up to their Chromecast. There was no way Phil didn’t know why he was mad, but he wanted to be as clear as possible. The video started with both of them looking at Dan’s laptop. Both looked nervous, but excited. Dan muted it, not wanting to take the chance he would zone out right now.

Dan watched as his video self went slack. Even on phone video, it was obvious that Dan was out of it. As his video self went to touch his fly, he could see Phil quickly touching Dan’s laptop and the audio pausing. Dan unmuted the volume.

Video Phil, visibly trembling, opened his mouth and then very clearly looked straight at the phone recording him. He swallowed audibly and paused. He then said, “Dan…uh, do some jumping jacks.” Dan paused the video.

“Fucking jumping jacks, Phil,” Dan stated, angry. “I figured that was just a test and then you’d get to the real stuff. But...” Dan fast-forwarded through the video, showing him performing a variety of strange movements, including pretending to be various animals. With the increased speed, it was obvious to both of them that Video Phil was looking at the camera. Finally, he sighed and snapped his fingers and the video ended shortly after.

“Phil, I said I wanted to be pushed. And that I trusted you,” said Dan softly. He sat down next to Phil.

“Do you, Dan?” said Phil. “I can’t… with the camera. It feels like… judgement.”

“I figured that was it. I shouldn’t have yelled. But I really want to know what happens,” said Dan. “I want to do this.”

Dan watched Phil take a deep breath. “Then, let me tell you after,” said Phil. “No camera. Complete trust.”

 _If not him, then who?_ Dan asked himself. He sighed. “Let me have a shower and we’ll try again. Your crappy hypnotism got me all sweaty.”

As Dan walked away, he wondered whether he should wank in the shower now or wait. _Definitely wait,_ he thought to himself, a small shiver running up his spine.

 

**Phil**

Phil had heard the sound of the shower stop five minutes ago. He was nervous. _This time for real, Phil,_ he told himself. _Dan wants to. You want to._ He flashed back to a moment almost eight years ago. Dan joking about their drunken night, the moment that had been the most romantic of Phil’s life. That crushing moment. Phil had shrugged it off. Pretended he didn’t care. _Look, that was then, and this is now. No feelings,_ he told himself.

“I’m ready,” said Dan, coming into the lounge wearing his hair in wet curls, an old black t-shirt and pyjama bottoms. “In here okay?”

“Sure,” said Phil. One of their bedrooms would be too intimidating. “Let’s-a go.” Dan sat down and Phil pressed play on the video. The woman’s voice filled the room and Phil, instead of watching the intro, watched Dan. He saw Dan’s face go slack and, as Dan went to reach for his pants again, Phil paused the video.

“Hold still, Dan,” said Phil softly. Dan froze and Phil hesitantly reached out a hand. He brushed a stray damp curl out of the way of Dan’s forehead. He took his time, enjoying looking at Dan’s flushed face. “Close your eyes, Dan,” whispered Phil. With his eyes closed, it almost seemed like Dan was posing just for Phil. Phil took his time, admiring the faint freckles that marked Dan’s face and smelling Dan’s soap and shampoo. He brushed his hands through Dan’s curls and ran his hand down his neck, lightly stroking his Adam’s apple.

 _A surefire way to know he’s out,_ thought Phil. _Normally, he would have hit me by now. I wonder how far he’s out? And whether he’d consent to me doing this?_ He remembered Dan repeatedly asking him to push his boundaries. Phil took a breath.

“Dan, let me kiss your neck,” said Phil. Dan didn’t move and his eyes stayed closed. “Move away if you don’t want me to,” whispered Phil as he leaned in. Dan didn’t move an inch.

Phil moved his face towards the heated soft flesh of Dan’s neck. He tentatively pressed his lips lightly on the warm skin, not sure whether he could feel Dan’s pulse or the beating of his very own heart. _Okay, Phil, you tested. He let you._ Phil ignored that internal voice and opened his lips slightly, licking and tasting the saltiness of Dan’s skin.

He almost jumped a foot in the air when Dan let out a low moan. “Dan?” he said, nervously, sitting up again. Dan still didn’t move. “Open your eyes,” Phil requested. Dan obediently opened his eyes. Phil looked closely. His eyes were still glazed. _Maybe involuntary responses still happen,_ thought Phil. _Like breathing and..._ moaning, _I guess. I’ll try again._

“Close your eyes again, Dan,” requested Phil, moving himself even closer to Dan so that their thighs pressed together. He moved his face towards Dan and back to his neck. This time, he ran his tongue up Dan’s neck. Dan shivered with a soft raspy moan that went straight to Phil’s cock. Phil, eager to hear the sound again, sucked lightly on Dan’s throat. Dan continued to moan softly, letting out little mewling noises that drove Phil crazy as he sucked slightly harder. Phil, leaning further forward, then kissed his way down Dan’s neck only to be met by the collar of Dan’s t-shirt. He felt his arm brush against something and he looked down.

Phil felt his breath catch in his throat. _I guess I was right about involuntary reactions_ , he thought. The thin fabric of Dan’s pyjama pants did nothing to hide his erection. _I’m not the only one getting excited by this._ Phil forced himself to move back to his original spot and take a deep breath.

Dan still sat there with his eyes closed, his chest moving up and down rapidly. But one thing had changed. There was a visible darkening mark on his neck.

 _Oh no,_ thought Phil. _He said to push his boundaries. I hope he’s not too mad later._ He looked again at Dan. _God, he’s beautiful. I could spend the rest of the time looking at him. His curls. His lips._ Phil leaned forwards again and brushed his lips ever so lightly against Dan’s slightly parted lips. Phil felt a shiver of excitement run down his spine and settle in his groin.

“Kiss me if you want to, Dan,” he whispered. He leaned in to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Love it when you guys leave comments or kudos -- let me know if you're enjoying it! -SwS


	8. Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the nice kudos! Please keep them and the comments coming. -SwS

**Phil**

Phil sat there with his eyes closed, holding his breath. The time it took Dan to close the short space between them seemed like an eternity.  _ What if he doesn’t want it? What if it’s just me?  _

As Phil went to open his eyes in panic, he felt Dan’s warm lips feather lightly against his briefly. Phil reached out his hands, pulling Dan back towards him, not letting him move away.

“Yes, Dan,” whispered Phil, opening his eyes to take in Dan’s flushed face and darkening love bite. “Kiss me like this.” Phil leaned back towards Dan and kissed him passionately, opening his mouth. He felt Dan’s tongue lick his tentatively back, mirroring his actions. Phil deepened the kiss, feeling Dan respond in kind. Dan moaned again, startling and exciting Phil. 

They kissed for a few minutes, both of them occasionally letting out soft sounds. Phil finally separated lips and moved away, panting. “Stop, Dan. Please stop. I need a minute.” Dan sat there, sounding a little out of breath, his lips red and wet. His dick was still fully hard in his pyjama pants. Phil didn’t blame him a bit, as he was fully hard as well. Hypnotized Dan was a good kisser, and Phil fought a small battle within to decide whether to push things further. To know that with a word from him, Dan would drop to his knees and engulf Phil with his beautiful mouth and talented tongue...

_ I think it’s time to stop,  _ thought Phil.  _ I don’t want to make any decisions I can’t take back. At least, anymore than I have already. Plus, it might be close to an hour now… I haven’t checked the time. _

The thought of Dan coming back to consciousness with Phil’s cock in his mouth made Phil’s dick twitch in his pants with excitement.  _ No,  _ thought Phil desperately. He grabbed the pillow from the couch and tossed in on Dan’s lap, carefully covering his erection. He then put the throw over himself.  _ Before you lose your nerve. Or time runs out. _ Phil snapped his fingers.  
  


**Dan**

_ I’m hard,  _ thought Dan. That was his first thought as he drifted into consciousness. The second thought was about how warm and good he felt right now. How horny. He reached down to touch his aching cock without thinking, looking for gratification.

“Dan!” he heard Phil say, in an almost panicked tone. Dan’s eye flicked open, seeing a blushing Phil in front of him. He moved his hand up in the air away from his dick rapidly, almost hitting his own face.

“Oh! The hypnotism! Sorry, sorry,” said Dan, turning red. He looked at Phil, sitting across from him, curiously.  _ Something _ had happened this time. It was written all over Phil’s face. Dan took a second to take inventory of both himself and Phil. 

Phil was fully blushing, but his lips looked red and wet. Dan felt his own lips, which felt swollen. “Did we kiss?” he asked Phil, who looked away. “Come on, Phil. You promised.” 

“Yes,” said Phil, unwillingly. “We kissed.”

“What kind of kiss?” asked Dan, curious. “Like, passionate?”

“Yes,” said Phil, shortly. “With tongue.”  _ With tongue _ …. Dan’s brain shortcircuited for a moment. He looked at Phil’s mouth. A few moments passed, and Phil shifted in his seat uneasily.

“Can you show me, Phil?” Dan almost whispered. “Just so I know.” Dan swallowed. He didn’t know Phil could turn redder than he already was. Phil licked his lips anxiously and Dan watched as Phil's small, pink tongue appeared and disappeared.

“But…” Phil said, haltingly. “We said…”

“Please, Phil,” said Dan softly. “Just for a minute. Just show me. If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to.” He sat there, looking at Phil. 

 

**Phil**

_ Show  _ him? It was one thing to moan and make out with Dan knowing that there were no consequences beyond the moment. This was quite another thing. Dan was staring at him, his intelligent brown eyes fully aware of every moment.

_ Why am I trying to fight not kissing Dan? _ thought Phil. He shivered under the throw.

“Okay,” said Phil, softly. “I’ll show you.” He leaned in, his lips hovering lightly above Dan’s.  _ Just… do it already.  _ He closed the gap, lightly kissing Dan.  _ You were doing this five minutes ago, Phil, _ he thought.  _ This is the same.  _

But it wasn’t. 

Dan opened his mouth, kissing Phil back. Hypnotized Dan had mirrored Phil’s actions, but real Dan…real Dan kissed like Dan would, slipping his tongue into Phil’s mouth and massaging Phil’s tongue with his own. He placed his hand on Phil’s back, rubbing it lightly and letting it drop to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. Kissing real Dan was a hundred times hotter. Phil let out a moan, and felt Dan stop in his mouth. He pulled away and blushed anew.

“Sorry,” he said, flustered.

“Don’t be,” said Dan, quietly. “So… like that?”

Phil had to be honest. “That might have been better,” he said. Both of them were breathing intensely. Phil looked away, first.

“So, what else did we do, Phil?” asked Dan, breaking the silence.

“I hope you won’t be mad,” said Phil, “You said… push your boundaries. You said it lots.”

“I’m not mad at you for kissing me,” said Dan, smiling. “I told you it was okay.”

“ _ Okay _ ?” said Phil, feeling insulted.

“More than okay,” whispered Dan.

Phil sighed.  _ Now or never, Lester.  _ “I also wanted… to push you a bit. So… I kissed your neck.”

“My neck?!” yelped Dan, suddenly feeling his neck. “I hate when people touch my neck.”

“You didn’t hate it,” said Phil. “Actually. You made… a lot of noise.” Dan groaned and covered his face with his hands.

“What kind of noise, Phil?” he asked from the depths of his hands.

“Sexy… sexy noises,” said Phil, smiling slightly at Dan’s position.

“Oh god,” said Dan. He felt along his neck and rubbed where the hickey was. “What is this -- did you leave a mark, Phil?”

“I… sorry, I got a little carried away,” said Phil. He watched at Dan grabbed his phone, turning it on selfie mode. 

“Phil! This is dark!” said Dan. “I’m not going to be able to hide this. Next time, at least put it lower!”

_ Next time? _ thought Phil. They both looked at each other.

“Not tonight,” he said quickly.

“No,” said Dan. “Not tonight. But sometime soon. I’m going to head to my room, Phil. Thank you for doing this with me. Good night.” Dan leaned over and planted a brief kiss on Phil’s surprised mouth.

“Good night, Dan,” murmured Phil thoughtfully, as Dan left the room. “Sleep well.”

He could faintly hear Dan laugh in the hallway. “Sleep?! Come on, Phil."


	9. Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone's kind words and kudos! -SwS

 

**Phil**

Despite Dan’s claims that nothing would change, everything had.

Dan was touchier than Phil had ever seen him before, except in the earlier stages of their relationship. He’d brush a bit of Phil’s hair out of his eyes while walking by, rub Phil’s shoulder in approval, and sat much closer on the sofa.

It was driving Phil crazy.

“You need to stop,” said Phil, interrupting Dan as he leaned in to point out something on the screen.

“Stop?” asked Dan, who looked honestly confused. His hair was slightly mussed and he was still “rocking the button up shirt,” as he put it, until the hickey on his neck faded. Phil appreciated it being covered during filming as every time he saw his mark gracing Dan’s neck, he found himself feeling the desire to do unspeakable things.   _Focus, Phil_ , he told himself.

“You’re touching me a lot,” complained Phil. “You’re in my space.”

“So?” asked Dan, looking a little confused. “Is it bothering you?” He poked Phil in the side and Phil jumped.

“Stop it! Every comment is going to be about that, Dan,” said Phil. “Remember the last one? They won’t even remember which game we’re playing.”

“Fine. I’ll try to keep my hands to myself,” said Dan, amused. “But the comments tend to be mostly ones like that no matter what we do, Phil.”

Dan gave Phil a slightly larger amount of space during the filming, but it didn’t stop the sidelong heated glances he sent him or the slight smile on his face the whole time.

“That’s going to be a lot of editing,” sighed Phil, after they finished.

“Fuck it,” said Dan. “They’ll love it.” Dan leaned in again. “How about now? Too close, Phil? I guess it wasn’t too close when I was hypnotized,” He grinned impishly and Phil found himself blushing again. _So, it’s going to be like that? Fine, Daniel. You don’t know what you’re asking for._

“All right by me,” said Phil, with an attempt at nonchalance, leaning in even further. He forgot, however, that this was the chair with the broken wheels, and he found himself falling forward towards both Dan and the sharply cornered computer desk.

“Careful, Phil,” cried Dan, grabbing Phil’s shoulders. “I thought I was supposed to be the chair faller. You’re going to take my reputation…” He trailed off as Phil stood up quickly. Dan’s hands skimmed down his body, finally falling to his waist.

Dan stared at Phil in front of him and bit his lip slightly. His open hands encircled part of Phil’s waist, squeezing lightly before he wound his thumbs into Phil’s belt loops. He fiddled with the loops, rubbing his thumbs across the waistband.

“Want to watch a video, Phil?” he asked softly, his eyes meeting Phil’s, then looking at Phil’s crotch meaningfully.

“What about the editing?” whispered Phil, his voice raspy.

“Later,” said Dan, throatily. “I’ll meet you in the lounge.” He released Phil’s waist and walked towards the door.

“No, not the lounge,” said Phil. “My room.”

“Your room?” asked Dan, looking at Phil again.

“I think I’d be more comfortable,” said Phil, fiddling with his laptop to avoid Dan’s gaze. Dan shrugged.

“Same rules go, Philly,” said Dan. “Push me.” He walked out and headed to the washroom. Phil picked up his laptop and breathed deeply. He needed to calm down.

***

“Stop, Dan,” said Phil, looking at his hypnotized flatmate as he went to take off his trousers. Phil pressed pause on the video. It had taken a lot of self-control to tell Dan to stop, but Phil wasn’t quite ready for the show of a few nights before.

“Sit on the bed, Dan,” said Phil. “Take off your shirt.” Phil studied Dan as he undid the buttons on his shirt. As the fading mark on Dan’s neck appeared, Phil’s breath caught in his throat. He reached out and touched it gently as Dan finished taking off his shirt.

“Kiss me,” said Phil. He leaned in and kissed Dan. Dan matched Phil’s motions, tentatively winding his tongue into his flatmate’s mouth. Phil stopped abruptly. After kissing the real Dan, kissing this hypnotized version seemed unsatisfying. Dan’s mouth was just as hot and wet, but the intensity that was just naturally a part of Dan was missing.

Phil softly touched Dan’s curls and kissed the part on his cheek that always became flushed. Dan was always embarrassed by that patch, but Phil found it endearing. He kissed it again, then briefly brushed his lips over the pale lovebite on Dan’s neck. He took a second to take in Dan’s chest and stomach.

He knew if this was the real Dan, he would be tempted to cover up or distract Phil as he wasn’t the most body confident person. _Dan had no reason to be self-conscious,_ Phil thought. _Frankly, he’s lovely._ Phil kissed down Dan’s neck, listening to Dan’s breathing intensify. Finally, Phil licked Dan’s nipple, as Dan let out a deep moan. Phil was surprised. _I guess Dan really likes that_ , he thought. He sucked Dan’s nipple, running his hands down his lightly muscled smooth back as he listened to his flatmate moan.

 _How far can I go?_ He thought. _At least a little further._ Phil paused and took off his own brightly coloured t-shirt. He shivered, only slightly from the cold.

“Suck my nipples, Dan,” said Phil, embarrassed to say that sentence. He was glad that only hypnotized Dan was here, as he was sure that real life Dan would have given him a hard time. As it was, Dan simply leaned over and took Phil’s nipples into his warm, wet mouth and swirled his tongue around the pale pink points. At that point, Phil forgot his embarrassment and simply gasped, enjoying Dan’s talented tongue. He felt himself become even harder, if possible.

For a second, he thought of how Dan’s hot mouth would feel on his cock and he saw stars. _He wanted me to push him,_ thought Phil. _Can I face him after?_

“Kiss me lower,” he barely got out, and felt Dan kiss his way down to his stomach. Phil took a deep breath.

“Hold on, Dan,” he said, and stood up, awkwardly unbuttoning his jeans. “Hold on.” Phil pulled his jeans down and then, after a moment of hesitation, pulled down his white boxers. He sat back down on the bed.

 _You can’t go back from this, Phil._ He pictured himself telling Dan after. His face flushed.

“Suck my dick, Dan,” he whispered. He knew at this point there was no going back.


	10. Climax

**Phil**

Phil might normally close his eyes, or feel a little self-conscious. But this situation, with Dan hypnotized, meant Phil was free to let his eyes and hands wander over Dan’s naked lightly muscled back as his flatmate opened his mouth and sucked Phil’s hard cock in.

“Fuck,” murmured Phil, running his hands through Dan’s mussed and damp curls as his flatmate focused on his dick. Dan looked up at him, his mouth filled with Phil’s sizable cock, sliding it in and out of his mouth. Dan’s mouth was warm and wet and everything he had wanted.

_ Almost _ everything. Dan’s tongue movements and constant suction were driving Phil crazy, but…

_ It’s like I’m with a toy,  _ Phil realized.  _ One of those fleshlights or some sort of doll. Sure, it feels good, but…  _

It was almost robotic.  _ It’s not real,  _ thought Phil _ , and hypnotism doesn’t make it real. This is Dan’s body, but the real Dan isn’t home.  _ Was it enough, though? Was it enough to have Dan’s beautiful body here, willing to please him in every way possible?

Why wasn’t it enough?

What Phil did next took every piece of self-control he ever had.

“Stop, Dan. Stop.” Phil panted, trying to control himself. He thought of video games, of his family, whatever he could do to calm himself down.

Phil groaned, looking at Dan sitting on the bed, his lips reddened and wet by Phil’s hardness stretching his mouth. Dan’s eyes were still glazed. He could see Dan’s hard cock still pressing against his pyjama bottoms.  _ What to do? What could he do?  _

 

***

**Dan**

As Dan felt himself leaving the cloudy daze of hypnotism, his first feeling was of great pleasure. Tremendous pleasure. He had gotten used to the feeling of frustration. The feeling of, well, frankly, of being  _ horny _ that had accompanied each time he emerged from being hypnotized. That feeling was there, but the amount of pleasure emanating from his crotch overwhelmed any other feeling. 

He glanced down from his seat on the bed and almost came right there at the sight.

Black hair, dyed black hair, moving up and down as Phil, on his knees, serviced him with his mouth. Phil had two fingers up in the air, clearly having finished snapping his fingers, and his hand soon dropped to join his lips and tongue in pleasuring Dan.

Dan involuntarily moaned and Phil glanced up at him, anxiety clear in his blue eyes.

“Please don’t stop, Phil,” Dan desperately begged. “This feels so fucking good.” Phil, reassured, doubled his efforts, his tongue winding around Dan’s cock as his hands played with his flatmate’s balls. 

“That’s it, Phil. Your mouth feels so fucking good,” groaned Dan. He closed his eyes, and immediately opened them. With his eyes closed, this mindfuck of a blow job could be coming from anyone, but it was a hundred times hotter coming from Phil. Seeing his mouth stretch around Dan’s cock as Phil slid his lips up and down caused Dan to let out an embarrassingly loud moan. He couldn’t find it in himself to be flustered, though. And he couldn’t have stopped himself from moaning if he tried.

“Oh god, Phil. You’re driving me crazy,” said Dan, letting out another soft moan.

With the moan, Phil redoubled his efforts, his tongue flicking at the sensitive head of Dan’s dick. Dan reached out and pushed strands of hair out of Phil’s eyes. He wanted to see every part of Phil's face. As Phil hit a particularly sensitive spot, Dan involuntarily tugged at Phil’s hair as he groaned his approval. He was surprised to see Phil’s eyes close in pleasure at the motion, and Dan felt himself getting close.

“Phil, if you don’t want…” he gasped. But instead of pulling off, Phil sunk down on Dan’s cock, surprising Dan. That feeling of intense warmth and wetness caused him to climax, Phil swallowing intently. Dan slumped backwards, surprised at the power of his own orgasm. He let go of Phil’s hair, realizing he was still holding on tightly.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Didn’t mean to pull so hard.”

“It’s okay,” said Phil quietly. He shuffled backwards and stood up, turning to walk away. Dan grabbed his arm.

“No, don’t go,” said Dan urgently. “What happened?” Dan took a second to process the scene. Both he and Phil were shirtless, their clothing carelessly strewn on the floor. Phil was in his boxers, where, despite his best efforts to hide it, his cock still showed signs of at least being partially erect.

And Dan had a taste in his mouth, a musky, earthy taste that seemed somehow familiar. He ran his tongue over his lips pondering, watching Phil flush guiltily. He looked at Phil in surprise, trying to figure it out.

“I need to know, Phil,” he said desperately. “Did I… did you have me…? Did you make me…?”

“What did I force you to do?” asked Phil, bitingly, shocking Dan into silence. “What thing did I make you do? Does it matter, Dan? You got off. And you didn’t even have to use your hand this time.”

Dan stood there as Phil exited the room, confused. What had happened in the short time he was out? His rush of a few minutes ago seemed to leave him.  _ I’ll give him some time to cool down,  _ thought Dan.  _ This is getting complicated.  _ Dan got up and headed to his own room, looking at the welcoming cheery room as he left. For a moment he pictured both of them cuddling on that awful wicker bed, both fully sated, with a soft grin on Phil’s handsome face. Him reaching again to brush Phil's fringe out of his eyes, and Phil surprising him by tickling Dan with a cheeky grin, his tongue sticking out as he laughed at Dan.

_ Stop it. That’s not what this is, Dan,  _ he told himself.  _ You fucked up that decision long ago. _ But as he lay in his cold and lonely bed that night, he tossed and turned and thought about the choices in his past that had led him to now, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was really too late.


	11. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second last chapter if things go well -- thanks, if you've been reading the whole thing! Loving the kudos and comments. Keep 'em coming! -SwS

**Dan**

 

Dan woke up confused and feeling upset. Not usually an isolated event, but usually something sparked it. A strange episode of _Black Mirror_ , a particularly accurate not-so-nice comment, a fight with a friend…

Friend.

It took him a second to shake his head and the events of the previous night came back to him. Well, _most_ of the events.

 _Why would Phil be so mad?_ Dan wondered, honestly confused. _And why would he choose to wake me up then?_ Being woken up in the middle of an honestly phenomenal blow job wasn’t the worst way to wake up, not by far. But Dan assumed since he was the one hypnotized that _he_ would be the one… well, on his knees.

 _Was Phil just being nice?_ But Dan had tasted _something_ in his mouth for sure. But judging by Phil’s state, both physical and mental, Phil hadn’t finished. _He could have made me_ , thought Dan. _It would have been so easy. All he had to do was tell me to suck his cock until completion._

But he hadn’t.

 _So that means,_ Dan thought, slowly working through it while yawning. _That means, he didn’t want to_ make _me._ An interesting thought to ponder through.

Dan laughed for a second at himself. _Make_ _me. You sound like you’re a separate person in all of this, but, Dannyboy, you know you’d drop to your knees in a second if he asked, hypnotized or not._ Dan flashed back to Phil’s earnest blue eyes, flecked with green and yellow, staring up at him with his mouth stuffed with Dan’s dick, and he felt his cock slowly awaken as well. He imagined himself, in the same position, Phil’s long, slender fingers tangled in his hair as Dan licked and teased Phil’s cock. Phil’s moans of pleasure as Dan swallowed as much of it as he could. _It would take maybe a second. All he would have to do is ask._

 _Well, maybe he doesn’t want to ask_ , thought Dan. _I need to check that site again. Carefully. With no sound on._ He reached over and pulled his laptop over to him.

 

**Phil**

Phil slammed down the plate, shaking the toast crumbs off it. He started to wash it vigorously in the sink.

 _Calm down, Phil_ , he told himself. _It’s not the plate’s fault you’re upset._ Why was he upset anyhow? He had done exactly as Dan had asked of him, barring one thing.

Snapping his fingers.

That moment where Dan’s brown eyes opened in confusion, and then pleasure. Phil had been so worried Dan would shove him off, or yell at him, or storm off. Dan had done none of these things.

Instead, he had urged Phil on and given Phil daydream fuel for years. But after… Phil had hoped Dan would open his arms, call him over… not just ask for a recap. Ask what Phil _made_ him do, like Phil was someone forcing Dan to do all these unpleasant things with him. Like Dan didn’t want to be there.

 _It’s your own fault, Phil_ , he told himself, blinking back a tear. _He was clear years ago. He doesn’t want this with you. And that’s fine. You have a best friend. More than a best friend. Someone to game with, live with, and someone who loves you unconditionally._

Just not like that.

And Phil knew that; he truly did. He could feel Dan pulling away from him in 2010. He pretended not to care when Dan pushed him away in 2012. He had never foreseen the YouTube glitch that would have caused them all this drama. How could he? He truly believed that Dan had forgiven him, but it was years since they became, well, _normal_ again, even behind closed doors. And that YouTube leak had stomped on the tender shoots of their romance, turning it into mulch.

 _Reminder to water your houseplants_ , Phil told himself dully. The steps behind him made him pause as the glass door to the kitchen opened.

“Everything okay?” asked Dan, tentatively.

“Sure,” said Phil. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You’re cleaning,” remarked Dan. “You clean when you’re stressed.”

“Or, I clean when someone leaves a plate in here all sticky with jam for two days,” snapped Phil.

“Phil, I’m pretty sure that was you,” said Dan. “Forget about the fucking plate. I want to know if we’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” asked Phil, keeping his back to Dan. There was silence behind him and Phil paid extra attention to cleaning off the last bit of jam. Dan sighed.

“We could just never do it again,” said Dan. “Except…”

Phil stopped. “Except what?”

“Never mind,” muttered Dan. Phil finally dried his hands and turned. Dan was holding his laptop, looking sheepish.

“Just blurt it out, Dan. I know that look of yours.”

“I found another video,” said Dan. “On that website. It said it’s for the hard to hypnotize.”

“You’re not hard to hypnotize,” said Phil, confused.

“Not me,” said Dan. Phil realized exactly what he meant.

“Give me a minute,” Phil said, and headed to the lounge. He sat, gazing at the fireplace. Could he give up control like that? Like Dan did? And for what purpose? To make his heart break even more?

“Phil,” said Dan softly, sitting next to him. “I promise I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

 _You already have,_ Phil wanted to say, staring at Dan’s brown eyes, his lanky frame filling up the space beside him perfectly. He longed, even at this moment, to reach out and embrace the younger man, to cuddle him, to push that soft brown curl of his unstraightened hair out of his eyes. _That’s not what friends do_ , he thought bitterly.

 _One more time,_ he thought. _I’ll let him see what it’s like. And if I don’t trust Dan, then who?_

“Okay,” said Phil, nodding his head curtly. “Let’s do it.”

“Maybe,” Dan said tentatively, “It’ll be the thing to really help fulfill your hypnotism kink.” He sent an encouraging smile towards Phil.

As Phil nodded, he thought to himself, _I might have a bit of a hypnotism kink, but turns out what I_ really _have is a Dan kink. And I can’t see this helping it._ Dan stood up, brushing the very curl out of his eye that Phil had been eyeing.

“So, later this afternoon,” he said, and headed out of the lounge.  
  
_For the last time,_ said Phil firmly to himself. _Let it be the last time, Phil._ He gathered the strength inside him and willed himself to get himself showered and dressed. He vowed to just not think about it for the next hour or so.  
  
And he failed.


	12. Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter -- thanks for everyone who came with me on this journey! Thanks also for all of your comments and kudos! Hope you enjoy! -SwS

**Dan**

Phil came in looking puzzled.

“Was that the door?” he asked.

“I ordered pizza for lunch,” said Dan, gesturing to the box on the counter. “Meat lovers.” Two paper towels and two glasses of Ribena were laid out next to the box.

“You went down the stairs?” said Phil doubtfully. Dan wasn’t surprised at Phil questioning this. They both disliked the awkward delivery person chit-chat and they both didn’t like walking down then up the zillions of stairs.

“Not a big deal,” shrugged Dan, awkwardly, opening up the box and gesturing to Phil to help himself. 

“I thought we were going to eat healthier?” asked Phil, lifting up a large slice of the pizza and placing it on a napkin.

“Tomorrow, I guess,” said Dan, nonchalantly. “Fuck it.” He wondered whether or not to tell Phil that the blue of his shirt exactly matched his eyes.  _ Probably too much,  _ he decided.  _ One thing at a time. _

“What do you want to watch?” asked Dan, flicking on the television.

“You know, I’m not mad at you,” Phil interrupted, sitting down. “You don’t have to do all this.”

_ I  _ want  _ to do all of this,  _ thought Dan.  _ Daily, if possible. _

“I just felt like pizza, mate,” he said, holding up two hands. 

“Okay,” said Phil. “Sure. Absolutely.” They started the episode of Food Wars, but before it really got started, Dan pressed pause. 

“I want to double check something with you,” said Dan.

“I consent,” said Phil bluntly. “To whatever happens. I really can’t say much either way, after all the stuff with you.”

“That’s not how it works,” said Dan. “Me saying yes before doesn’t mean you have to say yes ever. We can talk about turns until the flipping cows come home, but if you really don’t want to do this, we just won’t.” He could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he waited for an answer.  _ That is, if I don’t die of a heart attack before I get one. _

Phil turned completely, so there would be no confusion, no misunderstanding. “Yes, Dan,” he said, looking Dan straight in the eyes. “Yes. I want to do this.” He got up with his napkin, grabbing Dan’s on the way to throw out.  _ He doesn’t have to work to be thoughtful like me,  _ thought Dan despairingly,  _ he just is. Maybe I don’t deserve this. Haven’t earned it.  _

But just as he was going to give up hope, Phil looked at him from the doorway.

“You should know by now, it’s always been yes with you.” 

And with that, he walked away.

***

**Phil**

Phil (3:26 pm): Your room?   
Dan (3:27 pm): nope still yours if thats ok   
Phil (3:27 pm): When?  
Dan (3:28 pm): now? 

Phil frowned, listening to the rain hit hard against the window. Now was as good as ever, he guessed. He knew Dan would never intentionally hurt him.

_ But sometimes Dan’s got a pretty loose idea of what “hurt” means. If I’m physically undamaged and no one’s being mean to me, he thinks everything must be fine. _

_ Screw it,  _ Phil thought. He pulled off his t-shirt and sat on the bed. His heart was beating wildly. He picked his phone back up.

Phil (3:31 pm): Ready.

Dan came in a minute later carrying his laptop. His eyes widened as he took in Phil shirtless and wearing just his pyjama bottoms.

“Thought I’d save some time,” Phil said defensively. “I’m going to end up like this anyhow.” Dan nodded hesitantly, eyeing Phil’s torso.

“You’re not wrong. That was part of the plan,” he said. Phil noticed Dan’s hands were shaking as he put down the laptop and started fiddling with it, his back turned to his flatmate.

“When did you go looking for this video, anyhow?” Phil asked, feeling uncomfortable. This typical rainy day in London had him feeling chilly, but he supposed it wouldn’t last for very long.

“Last night,” said Dan. “It was behind a paywall. Cost me four pounds,” he turned and grinned nervously.

“Hope it’s worth it,” muttered Phil, surprised.

“It will be,” Dan said, almost inaudibly. He turned back and finished setting up the video. “Here, you press play,” Dan said. “I’ve got some earplugs with me and I’m going to look away.”

“No chances, huh?” asked Phil ruefully. 

“Nope… knowing our luck, we’d end up both zoned out, sitting here and doing nothing for an hour,” replied Dan. “Pretty much business as usual.” They both chuckled at that weakly. Dan put the earplugs in his ears and gestured at Phil. He turned around.

“Just so you know,” Phil whispered. “This has been amazing. Frustrating and terrifying, but amazing. I’ll miss getting the chance to experience what we screwed up years ago.”

“Is it on?” Dan yelled. He turned to Phil and gave the thumbs up.

Phil sighed, gave a thumbs up, and hit play. 

And that was all he remembered.

***

**Phil**

He woke up to an overwhelming feeling of… warmth. It was like waking up from an amazing dream, one you just couldn’t recall.

_ Take a minute and get your bearings, Phil,  _ he told himself. First, he could hear the cold patter of the rain against his window. His pyjama bottoms were still on, tangling at his ankle at bit, the way they do under covers. The softness of his own blue-green duvet laid on top of him, but that wasn’t what was providing most of the warmth.

He could feel two arms, encircling around him, spooning him in the bed. It was utterly cozy, and one of the best feelings he had ever had. A hand reached up, softly stroking his hair away from his face, then lazily tracing a pattern down his arm before taking his hand. He could hear Dan’s even breathing behind him, tickling his ear. Dan made a soft sigh of contentment, and tightened his arms slightly around Phil’s waist.

Phil tried to remember what Dan had been like hypnotized. He wanted to stay in this moment as long as possible, and the sooner Dan realized Phil was awake, the sooner he would let go. Phil willed himself to hold completely still. 

But Dan froze suddenly, sensing the change in Phil. Panicked, Phil tried to turn his body towards his flatmate, and Dan went to draw back his arms.

“No,” blurted out Phil. “Don’t.” Dan froze.

“No?” questioned Dan, a nervous edge in his voice. 

“No. As in, no, don’t let go.”

Dan smiled softly as Phil turned to face him. He reached over again, this time with intent, and smoothed the same piece of hair out of Phil’s face.

“Hi,” said Phil. “This is a nice way to wake up.” Dan leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

“It’s how I want to wake up every day, Phil,” he said, looking at Phil. “That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

“Me too,” said Phil. “Why did it take us so long to get here?” 

“It's my fault. I fucked it up years ago,” said Dan, looking guilty.

“No, I should have said something sooner,” protested Phil, taking Dan’s face into his hands and kissing his nose. “Let’s just enjoy it now.

“Did you just kiss my nose?  _ My fucking nose? _ ”

“I’ll kiss where I please, mate,” said Phil, kissing it again as Dan blushed.

“Anyhow, you know us,” smiled Dan. “Us two nerds, always taking the long way around. But, as long as we’re here now…” Dan leaned over the small space between them and kissed Phil softly on the lips. Phil felt his heart beat faster.

“You were right,” said Dan with a half smile on his face. “It’s better when we’re not hypnotized.” He kissed Phil again and Phil opened his mouth slightly, letting the kiss get more passionate as they cuddled under the blankets. They both grinned foolishly at each other. 

“That alone was worth the four pounds,” said Dan as Phil tickled him in the side. He released Phil and laughed until Phil finally granted pity on him and stopped.

“Four pounds? I’m worth a lot more than that, bucko,” Phil said, silencing Dan with a brief kiss.

“I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure that out,” said Dan, and he reached out his arms to pull Phil closer.


End file.
